WEBVTT - Qualcomm's Evolution of Autonomous Products

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason

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<v Speaker 1>Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. All right, so let's head out

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<v Speaker 1>to Las Vegas and that as they call it. Patrick

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<v Speaker 1>Little is their senior vice president and general manager of

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<v Speaker 1>Qualcom Global Automotive. He's there with tens of thousands, probably

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<v Speaker 1>hundreds of thousands of people for ce S are headed

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<v Speaker 1>there shortly. So Patrick, tell me what's going on with

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<v Speaker 1>Qualcom these days, especially as it relates to tech in

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<v Speaker 1>our cars. Well, yeah, c S, it's a it's just

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<v Speaker 1>kicking off now, I guess it kicks off tomorrow morning.

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<v Speaker 1>And Otto is the big buzz out here in Las

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<v Speaker 1>Vegas this week. So Otto used to be an afterthought

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<v Speaker 1>and all of a sudden, Otto is the central thing

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<v Speaker 1>out of c Yes, it's become the main, the main

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<v Speaker 1>part of the show. And so very big for Qualcolm

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<v Speaker 1>this year is we've announced our first autonomous drive platform.

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<v Speaker 1>We've been working on it with big customers like Gem

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<v Speaker 1>over the last few years and finally just unveiled it

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<v Speaker 1>in our press conference just a few minutes ago. So

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg is one of the first to find out about it.

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<v Speaker 1>It's called snap Dragon Ride and it's basically the central

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<v Speaker 1>computer brain inside the vehicle that's going to allow your

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<v Speaker 1>car eventually to take on some driving functions and eventually

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<v Speaker 1>drive itself over the coming years. All Right, So I

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<v Speaker 1>feel like this is long awaited in many ways. Is

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<v Speaker 1>the year that that we actually see this in cars

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<v Speaker 1>or is it going to take a little bit longer

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<v Speaker 1>for that robust autonomous driving experience? Yeah? You know, it's

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<v Speaker 1>it's going to be evolutionary. So just like everything else

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<v Speaker 1>an automotive, it won't just be one day the cars

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<v Speaker 1>are driving themselves. You know, I think it's a society.

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<v Speaker 1>We can't adapt that quickly, and so what's really limiting um.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, technology is certainly evolving continuously, um, But what's

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<v Speaker 1>really limiting it is our reality as humans to be

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<v Speaker 1>able to acclimate to the changes. And so what you'll

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<v Speaker 1>see is what you're already seeing, and that is you'll

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<v Speaker 1>go from level one to level five autonomy where the

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<v Speaker 1>car will start to break itself in certain conditions, and

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<v Speaker 1>then it might steer itself or to keep in the lane,

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<v Speaker 1>and then it might recognize some road signs and eventually

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<v Speaker 1>help you on the highway and then eventually help you

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<v Speaker 1>and stop and go traffic, and then ten years from

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<v Speaker 1>now you'll turn around the car will be fully driving,

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<v Speaker 1>after you've acclimated to kind of each one of these

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<v Speaker 1>use models. And that's the way passenger vehicles will evolve. Patrick,

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<v Speaker 1>I think that's what will get us all used to it.

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<v Speaker 1>I feel like in many ways, the technology is certainly there.

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<v Speaker 1>We've seen that right with um various automakers already in

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<v Speaker 1>terms of self driving cars. Tesla certainly front and center here.

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<v Speaker 1>I guess as I'm on the car, my car can

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<v Speaker 1>kind of drive on its own already also, but it's

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<v Speaker 1>not a Tesla. But what's interesting is I constantly think

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<v Speaker 1>about the infrastructure around me. I think about, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>messy roads or signs and things that aren't so clear

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<v Speaker 1>that are going to complicate our move towards a fully

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<v Speaker 1>self driving world. So where are we on that? Who's

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<v Speaker 1>responsible for that? Because if once you start getting towns

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<v Speaker 1>and governments and things involved, that to me says it's

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<v Speaker 1>going to take a lot longer. Now, I think you

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<v Speaker 1>put your finger on it. So it's it's easy enough

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<v Speaker 1>in what's called the closed loop situation for cars to

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<v Speaker 1>be able to drive themselves. The technology is just nearly

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<v Speaker 1>there to be able to make that happen with mobility

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<v Speaker 1>services and robot taxis and these things enclosed loop environments.

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<v Speaker 1>It's the open loop environments that you're talking about, where

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<v Speaker 1>there's potholes in the roads that aren't mapped, these types

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<v Speaker 1>of things, and so it's it's evolved, continuously evolving the

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<v Speaker 1>technology where it's able to detect these things um which

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<v Speaker 1>is really going to allow us to be able to

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<v Speaker 1>run these open loop scenarios. And that's why we're graduating

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<v Speaker 1>passenger vehicles from level one up until level five autonomy

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<v Speaker 1>over the counting years. Another point you made was very good,

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<v Speaker 1>and that is the infrastructure. So it won't be just

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<v Speaker 1>the cars that are that are that are helpful and autonomy.

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<v Speaker 1>The infrastructure itself will know a lot more. It will

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<v Speaker 1>know where the potholes are, it will know where the traffic,

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<v Speaker 1>where the traffic jams exist. And so I think it's

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<v Speaker 1>a it's a concert of what's going on in the

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<v Speaker 1>car and the technology and very similar technology in the infrastructure.

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<v Speaker 1>And so each the sad answer to it is each

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<v Speaker 1>municipality is responsible for putting together that infrastructural approach. And

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<v Speaker 1>some states like California and Arizona are a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>more advanced, and there's other states that I think are

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<v Speaker 1>falling behind. But it will be the marriage of infrastructure

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<v Speaker 1>and the car to be able to really bring a

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<v Speaker 1>full self driving environment over the coming decade. It's almost

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<v Speaker 1>like crowdsourcing or crowdfunding. I do think about ways and

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<v Speaker 1>how it works, and man, I've been pulled into it,

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<v Speaker 1>or I'm like, oh, yeah, I just saw a copp

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<v Speaker 1>or oh yeah, there's a car pulled over, Like you know,

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<v Speaker 1>you start doing that, and I do wonder how much

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<v Speaker 1>that will have to be a part of, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>kind of what happens in the future. So Patrick, go ahead, No,

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<v Speaker 1>now you're you're bringing in a very important point. That's

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<v Speaker 1>why five G is necessary because as Jason is are

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<v Speaker 1>runs over a pothole, figures out that the road is closed,

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<v Speaker 1>it can report that up to a cloud and that

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<v Speaker 1>we'll use that crowdsource information to inform all the vehicles

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<v Speaker 1>across the network. So cars will no longer be isolated

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<v Speaker 1>on their own. We're connecting all the cars together and

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<v Speaker 1>the cars to the infrastructure, like we discussed last time

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<v Speaker 1>I was on your show, with the two X technology

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<v Speaker 1>So Patrick, I'd just like to point out that you

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<v Speaker 1>have pointed out that Carol asked really good questions and

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<v Speaker 1>apparently I drove drive over potholes. So I'm not holding

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<v Speaker 1>it against you because you're all the way out there

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<v Speaker 1>in Las Vegas' bro. I'm just I'm just saying, alright, so, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>just only about thirty seconds left and we're gonna hold

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<v Speaker 1>you over for the next segment. But the mood you

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<v Speaker 1>said pretty good out there as it relates to cars

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<v Speaker 1>right now, Ces, it's just amazing. So ce s. As

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<v Speaker 1>I mentioned, five years ago, automotive was an afterthought, pushed

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<v Speaker 1>away in one of the halls, and now it's just

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<v Speaker 1>his front and center. I can tell you qual Calm

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<v Speaker 1>we did seven or eight press releases, seven of the

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<v Speaker 1>we're all about automotive and autonomy and different services that

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<v Speaker 1>were offering now, so automotive has really become the center

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<v Speaker 1>of what's going on in the bus at CS and

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<v Speaker 1>no true than more true than this year. Patrick Little

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<v Speaker 1>is our guest. He's senior VP General manager at Qualcom

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<v Speaker 1>Global Automotive, getting ready to head to CS out in

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<v Speaker 1>Vegas on the phone from San Diego though on this

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<v Speaker 1>Monday Hey, Patrick, we do want to move on. But

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<v Speaker 1>one more question I have, because you are seeing what's

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<v Speaker 1>going on in terms of self driving technology, chips increasingly

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<v Speaker 1>playing a bigger role when it comes to the automotive space,

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<v Speaker 1>is are all automotive companies alike in terms of their

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<v Speaker 1>pursuit and pushing towards self driving or are there some

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<v Speaker 1>that from your vantage point, are definitely ahead of the pack.

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<v Speaker 1>Now that it's not it's not homogeneous, for sure, There

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<v Speaker 1>there are, but it is there are. There are leaders

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<v Speaker 1>in Europe, there are leaders in North American, leaders in China.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the companies that we announced that we're working

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<v Speaker 1>very closely with his General Motors. They've been a partner

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<v Speaker 1>of ours since twenty since two thousand two, and we

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<v Speaker 1>launched on Star together, and so they're one of the

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<v Speaker 1>more advanced companies in North America that's really pushing for

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<v Speaker 1>autonomous driving. And they've come out with their super crews

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<v Speaker 1>and their ultra crews in different varieties of their autonomous driving.

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<v Speaker 1>But that's one one company I think that in partnership

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<v Speaker 1>with Qualcom, has really been able to break new barriers

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<v Speaker 1>in autonomous driving. Several of the German automakers are really

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<v Speaker 1>aggressive and we've been working with several of them as well.

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<v Speaker 1>So there are laggards and leaders in the space, for sure.

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<v Speaker 1>I think everyone has the same goal in mind, and

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<v Speaker 1>that is safety. Really autonomous driving and eight ASS is

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<v Speaker 1>really all about safety. Uh. And so you have North

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<v Speaker 1>America a couple of leaders, and a couple of leaders

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<v Speaker 1>in Germany, and certainly a few in Asia that are

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<v Speaker 1>that are continuing to lead the way. But General Motors

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<v Speaker 1>is a friend of the family, will say, and they've

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<v Speaker 1>really been working closely with us. Two, I would say,

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<v Speaker 1>in kind of a trusted advisor partnership. Patrick, we talked

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit about this a few minutes ago, but

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<v Speaker 1>I've g tell us what that actually looks like because

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<v Speaker 1>I feel like too often, I think we talked about

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<v Speaker 1>this with you when you visited with us before. This

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<v Speaker 1>notion of like, yeah, three G, two four G, thing's

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<v Speaker 1>got a little bit faster, But five G feels like

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<v Speaker 1>more of a game changer, really sort of a step

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<v Speaker 1>function up. As they say, tell us what that actually

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<v Speaker 1>looks like, especially when it comes to your business. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>five five G is a game changer across nearly every

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<v Speaker 1>industry and certainly that's true for automotive, and so those

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<v Speaker 1>core tenants of five G just to speed, the low latency,

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<v Speaker 1>in other words, your your time to access it is

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<v Speaker 1>very high. The reliability is extremely high, which is very

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<v Speaker 1>important for automotive, and it's going to make a bunch

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<v Speaker 1>of change. Five G alone will make quite a few

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<v Speaker 1>changes in automotive. One of the things we talked about

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<v Speaker 1>when we last spoke was a cellular vehicle to everything,

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<v Speaker 1>or vehicles talking to other vehicles, talking to the infrastructure.

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<v Speaker 1>It's very important that the network be available all the time,

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<v Speaker 1>and so five G has extremely high reliability, much higher

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<v Speaker 1>than three G or four G. And I think that's

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<v Speaker 1>an important part of connecting the car to the world

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<v Speaker 1>around it is that reliability also for eight as it's

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<v Speaker 1>important there will be so much data coming from the

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<v Speaker 1>car and going to the car in terms of maps

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<v Speaker 1>and algorithms and other data back and forth. It's very

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<v Speaker 1>important that you have that very high throughput that five

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<v Speaker 1>G can give you. So five G will actually play

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<v Speaker 1>a very central role in many aspects of the evolution

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<v Speaker 1>of automotive, not only for autonomy and not only connecting

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<v Speaker 1>the car to the world around it. But even to

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<v Speaker 1>be able to stream movies and audio and other content

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<v Speaker 1>to your car. As you bring your digital life into

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<v Speaker 1>the car, automotive standards, will they be um the same

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<v Speaker 1>around the globe. Ultimately, we're trying to you know, we're

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<v Speaker 1>trying for that global harmonization, particularly with the V two

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<v Speaker 1>X are connecting the car to the world around it.

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<v Speaker 1>We're really turn to harmonize a on a specific spectrum,

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<v Speaker 1>a specific set of goals and object is so that

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<v Speaker 1>you can have this common experience across the entire globe.

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<v Speaker 1>We really do learn from each other in North America, Europe, Asia,

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<v Speaker 1>we we have this common network in the industry and

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<v Speaker 1>we really do learn from each other. So hopefully there'll

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<v Speaker 1>be a nice harmony now in sigula V to X.

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<v Speaker 1>China is definitely ahead. They announced the spectrum well ahead

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<v Speaker 1>of the other territories. And it's what I was mentioning

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<v Speaker 1>to you before. They're they're a little bit ahead of

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<v Speaker 1>everyone because of their decisiveness on on V V two

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<v Speaker 1>X technology. Um. But yeah, we try to harmonize these

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<v Speaker 1>capabilities in these functions across the globe, and automakers like

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<v Speaker 1>it that way. They don't like to have to do

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<v Speaker 1>a model for Europe model for North America. They like

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<v Speaker 1>to be able to have a lot of leverage in

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<v Speaker 1>their investments across all territories and frankly from the smallest

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<v Speaker 1>car or from the low end car to the premium car.

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<v Speaker 1>They want that leverage as well. Right, all right, we'll

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<v Speaker 1>have a great show. Patrick Little, senior Vice president and

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<v Speaker 1>general manager of Qualcom Global Automotive. He joined us on

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<v Speaker 1>the phone from Tanyo, headed to Vegas. Some big announcements

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<v Speaker 1>from Qualcom. Sounds like cars moving from sort of the

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<v Speaker 1>back lot to the main aisle there at the big

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<v Speaker 1>electronic show in Vegas. Baby, Yeah, pretty cool. And we'll

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<v Speaker 1>watch for some of the announcement that comes out over

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<v Speaker 1>the next week, so definitely following that.